As yet, the Raptors have no idea where (or, just as importantly, when) they’re going to find their collective ceiling.

After Saturday night, they have a clearer idea of their basement. They’re a lot better than the worst team in the NBA.

So good, in fact, they didn’t require starting point guard Kyle Lowry, who played only 15 minutes after rolling an ankle. Later, coach Dwane Casey would say Lowry “just tweaked it.” Make a note of this one for later depressive consideration.

Coming in, we knew Utah was bad. They hadn’t won a game. They hadn’t scored more than 93 points since opening night. They have the worst defence in the league.

In reality, we knew nothing. The awfulness of the Utah Jazz is a full-on sensory experience. To appreciate the amplitude of their ineptitude, it has to be suffered through in person. Like waterboarding.

After two hours of this dreck, I’m not sure what the Jazz play. It isn’t basketball. It’s a strange cross between Red Rover and inside-out dodgeball.

The only legitimate player they have is Gordon Hayward. He’s due for a big raise in the off-season. They ought to throw in a knighthood or beatification or some other non-pecuniary award. He’s going to need the moral support.

If it was all a bit of a romp once it got going, it looked terribly serious beforehand.

“We have to come out with a desperate mentality,” coach Dwane Casey said beforehand.

It was hard to tell if the Raptors came out any harder, or if the Jazz are just that terrible. Probably a combo of the two. It was 5-0 in less than 30 seconds. It was 30-16 to end the first quarter. Halfway through the second, the usually invisible Quincy Acy was inserted. In the second quarter. Hopefully, the Jazz understand how shaming that should feel.

It was 62-36 at the half. It ended nearly as badly — 115-91.

“For me, it was serious,” Casey said afterward. “Because if it goes the other way, it’s not a laugher.”

Given the competition, it’s hard to draw any lessons from this game.

The only consequential act was avoiding a loss. If the Raptors had been beaten, we’d be talking in this space about accelerating the teardown clock.

Internally, the team maintains that it will make that decision sometime around mid-December. If at that point the Raptors do not look like a solid contender for a playoff spot, the sell-off will begin.

Losing to the Jazz would not have prompted anyone to go running for the self-destruct button. But they’d have started checking the wiring, to make sure the thing works.

This is where things get complicated for the now 3-4 Raptors. On Monday, they face a major test in Houston, followed by another in Memphis on Wednesday. After that, it’s home to face the Bulls. It’s not hard to see this team at 3-7 in a week’s time.

That’s where the Jazz have it easier — from the viewpoint of internal philosophy.

They are a full-on Tank Team, and well on pace to hit all miserable targets. Let’s hope Andrew Wiggins enjoys teetotalling and tabernacles.

The Raptors are still NBA ’tweeners, trying to figure out if they’re as good as they hope or as bad as they need to be to get something out of the draft.

While the Jazz boosted minutes and bolstered stats sheets all around, Gay and DeMar DeRozan continue to score about as many points as field goals attempted (combined, they had 29 on 25 shots). Not good.

Tyler Hansbrough had the best statistical night (23 points on 6-for-9 shooting). That’s ever the case with the team this year — one guy has a great night, everyone else takes it easy.

Take out the disappointment in Charlotte, and the Raptors are essentially performing at expected norms. They beat bad teams, and lose to good ones. At some point soon, they need to begin skewing in one direction or the other.

Until that happens, they remain trapped in a performance netherworld, a dangerous neither/nor sort of place.

On that one level at least — a clearly defined mission statement for this season — the execrable Jazz are well ahead of Raptors.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.